Lovable Fraggles

I was asked to review the new issue of Fraggle Rock Vol. 2 #1 (of 3). I jumped at the chance – I loved watching ‘Fraggle Rock’ on HBO in the 1980s. It was one of my favorite shows. I wasn’t aware that Archaia had turned it into a comic book tale.

From the official press release – “Get ready to rock—Fraggle style! Archaia and The Jim Henson Company follow up their highly acclaimed FRAGGLE ROCK anthology series with a brand-new line of comics, featuring the antics of Gobo, Mokey, Wembley, Boober and Red! Worry is indeed for another day, as this new series features a stellar lineup of talent, including: Grace Randolph (MUPPET PETER PAN, MARVEL HER-OES), Chris Lie (RETURN TO LABYRINTH), Jake Forbes (RETURN TO LABYRINTH) and Ross Campbell (WET MOON, SHADOWEYES)! Featuring a cover from MOUSE GUARD’s David Petersen and activity pages from fan-favorite Katie Cook!”

There are three stories told in this issue of ‘Fraggle Rock’. The first is a very cute story about dreams entitled “Wembley and the Great Dream Capade.” The story begins with Wembley waking up from a dream, then meets up with the other Fraggles to talk about their dreams. Wembley says that he doesn’t dream about anything exciting, while the other Fraggles go on and on about how awesome and amazing their dreams are – Red dreams of a giant slide, Gobo dreams of musical crystals, and so on. The others begin to offer suggestions to Wembley on how to make him dream. My favorite suggestion? Boober says that he should try writing what he wants to dream on his eyelids and Wembley says that he tried, but it gave him an eye-rash. It’s the quirkiness that made me really enjoy this short story.

Did you know that to share a dream with a Fraggle you must sleep with your heads touching? I had no idea. But, in this story, the Fraggles help Wembley have a nice dream by sharing their dreams with him. Without giving too much away, I’ll just say that by far the most hilarious dream to me was Red’s. But I’m a sucker for Red, so there’s that.

The second story is called “Boober and the Ghastly Stain”, and has Boober holding up a mop in a triumphant pose. Gobo has messed up one of his shirts and has given it to Boober to clean. A very simple story, but tons of heart in it. As Boober cleans the stain, he sings a jaunty tune to make the time pass by. It’s quite cute and reminds me of when I clean up around my house, I tend to hum a little tune like that as well. This story is a bit shorter than the first story, but there is nothing wrong with it being short and sweet. I mean, you can talk about a stain until the cow’s come home, but really? Would you, the reader, want to read that? I think what they did was very clever and came to a fun conclusion.

The last story is called “Brave Sir Wembley”, and the art style is very different from the first two tales. The first tale had a very “comic-book” feel to it, the second was more of a “serial” feel, and this one – this one is unique on its own. It looks and feels like it was done with colored pencils – the lines are very soft and flowing. The story is about Wembley and Boober’s journey to “outer space” to get a postcard that Uncle Matt has sent to Gobo for the special occasion of ‘Glory Song Celebration’. What happens on their journey? Pick up the comic to find out. It’s actually quite hilarious – especially since Boober tends to rattle on and on about what may or may not happen in ‘outer space’.

At the end of the comic, Red gives the reader tips on how to stretch before exercising. I found this to be really fun. Again, huge Red fan. And after that, there was a coloring page that relates back to Boober’s story. I think it’s really fun how Archaia stuck those two items in the comic. Were they needed? Nope. Did they make a difference to me? Yep. I really loved the coloring option. I’m a huge nerd when it comes to coloring books and the like.

So, if you’re like me – a child of the 80s, or grew up watching ‘Fraggle Rock’, or heck – if you caught it on Netflix – check out this comic. It’s a ton of fun and you won’t be disappointed in it at all. Retailing at $3.95 – you really can’t beat that.